When people ask me what I want to do with my career, I normally reply with advertising. Sometimes I say international man of mystery, or official Jaffa cake tester, but no one seems to take that seriously.
Sometimes advertising gets a bad rep and I will admit there is some terrible adverts out there and do believe we live in a far too consumer based society. But enough with all that – 2015 has been fantastic year for great video advertising.
Video advertising is a great medium that has grown with its audience, and gone are the days of “buy this now” and basically just lying to you that “this will make your life better.” Now adverts think about their audiences lives and instead go “hey we just want to tell you about this product because we really like it and think you would too.” Storytelling and human connection has become a huge part of advertising with integrated campaigns that work over all platforms and allow greater engagement with their audience and customer.
It’s an exciting time for advertising so here is my top 5 adverts of 2015:
1. Squatty Potty:
The first time I saw this advert I thought it was fake, how could this possibly be serious? But I watched it all the way through and immediately shared it and talked about it with whoever would listen. What more could you want from an advert? And yes it is a real advert for a real product, and yes I was almost tempted to buy one.
But you might be thinking well thats great you enjoyed a funny advert. Well that one video boosted online sales 600%, retail sales by 400% and helped bring $15 million in revenue! The video has at the time of writing garnered more than 50 million views with some 70 percent of viewers watching the entire three minute piece according to the video’s creators, the Harmon Brothers.
Not bad for a pooping unicorn video, huh?
Source: Adweek
Behind the scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l7MXfYWahU
2. Geico – Unskippable:
Pure genius! Geico’s advert plays on the constant pre-roll ads on YouTube and makes for simple but hilarious viewing that you wouldn’t want to skip any way.
The campaigns ‘Family’ video even won the non-TV Grand Prix Prize at Cannes:
‘The campaign “breaks every single rule of filmmaking,” Myhren said. “Instead of begging you to watch this ad, they challenge you not to watch it. And you can’t take your eyes off it. Instead of a long story with a tenuous link to the brand at the end, there’s a gigantic logo of the brand in the middle of the screen the entire time. This deceptively simple piece of communication really showed us that film can reinvent the way you look at media—the least sexy medium in the world, which is preroll.”
They have a whole series of pre-rolls that I would recommend watching.
3. Trivago:
Italy:
New York:
I can’t stop watching these videos for Trivago Hotels. Directed by the incredibly talented Hanna Maria Heidrich, these video have everything; brilliant and interesting stories, well executed production, cinematography, sound design and it perfectly paced editing, all topped off with a killer message that is totally clever and on brand.
4. Honda – The other side:
This is a prime example of a company using new forms of technology well, and not just as a bolt on gimmick. Honda and Wieden + Kennedy London have created an incredible “double-sided story” on YouTube to promote the Civic and Civic type R. While watching “The Other Side,” you can press and hold the “R” button on your keyboard to switch between parallel storylines.
The whole advert is well crafted and the storylines run in parallel perfectly, and the switching of two stories was great way to experience the advert as well as get across the two different types of car Honda is advertising.
5. Android UK:
LeeFest:
Swim Dem Crew:
I think the Android UK adverts LeeFest and SwimDemCrew are a great example of understanding your target audience. Everything about these adverts from the narratives, characters, tone, pace and style just work. Simply, they are just super cool and very relatable.
Honorary Mentions:
Reebok- Freak Show – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijhk5Emd6Ig
Snickers– Brady Bunch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqbomTIWCZ8
Hotels.com – The One With The Guy Locked Out In His Underwear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6B3br-NxFw
Jonnie Walker -Dear Brother – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG4TfA3_u4I
Vimeo – Interrupted – https://vimeo.com/134776130
Mophie – All Powerless – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuVsf_hE7gM
Conclusion:
So there you have my top 5 of the year I know there a lot of adverts out there that I should of mentioned but these 5 just stuck in my head and isn’t that whats it’s all really about.
If there is anything I would like you take away from this blog is that it’s ok to step out of your comfort zone and try something creative, because as you can see it works. I really believe that there is no reason – and I will repeat that NO REASON – why any business, no matter what size, cant do the same thing. And you guessed it, we will be more than happy to help you.